China's township enterprises are estimated to record an added value worth 2,730 billion yuan in 2000, 1,270 billion more than in 1995 and accounting for 37 percent of the added portion of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to an official with the Ministry of Agriculture Tuesday.
Township enterprises attract rural laborers from the agriculture sector to industrial and service sectors, which proved to be an effective way to ease the tension between the rural population and limited arable land, said Qi Jingfa, vice minister of agriculture.
Township enterprises have employed 127 million people, 79.3 percent of China's total redundant labor force in rural areas.
The farmers' salary earned from township enterprises made up 34 percent of their average per capita net income in 2000, and in some economically developed provinces the portion reached more than 40 percent.
The added value produced by township industrial enterprises is estimated to top 1,895 billion yuan last year, about half of the added value produced by the whole industry sector of the country, Liu Zengsheng, director of the Bureau of Township Enterprises under the Ministry of Agriculture said.
The export delivery volume of township enterprises is estimated to value 878.3 billion yuan last year, accounting for 40 percent of the country's total, Liu added.
Township enterprises paid 195 billion yuan in taxes last year and since 1995, they have invested about 100 billion yuan in farming and rural establishments.
Liu noted that China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will put township enterprises in a more favorable position in the world market, especially in the textile, food and garment industry, though they may also face problems in updating information about overseas markets.
However, the central government will help them to sharpen their competitive edge, Liu added.
(Xinhua 01/09/2001)
